England became the world champions for the first time in cricket history after defeating New Zealand in what can be termed as the most epic match in white-ball cricket to be ever played.
In one of the most thrilling finishes in the sport, England needed 15 runs in the final over but all that they could manage was 14.
One of the biggest turning points of the World Cup final humdinger between England and New Zealand was the overthrow on the fourth ball of the final over bowled by Trent Boult.
Chasing New Zealand's first-innings score of 241, England needed another nine runs from three more balls to win the game and become the first men's English team to have their hands on the coveted trophy.
In the fourth ball of the over, Stokes accidentally knocked the ball coming in from deep midwicket fielder Martin Guptill and deflected it to the third man boundary, while attempting to dive for his crease with an outstretched bat, in a bid to complete his second run.
After consultation with Marais Erasmus and the rest of his umpiring colleagues, Kumar Dharmasena signalled six runs for the incident, meaning that England -- who by then seemed to be drifting out of contention needing nine runs from three balls -- were suddenly right back in the hunt towards World Cup glory needing three more from two.
What does the ICC rule say?
According to MCC law 19.8 pertaining to 'overthrow or wilful act of fielder': "If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side, and the allowance for the boundary, and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act."
Now, if one looks at this definition of the law, a conclusion can be drawn that England were awarded an extra run, i.e., they should have been awarded five runs instead of six.
If one takes a close look at the video of the incident, it will be seen that at the moment the ball was released by Guptill, Stokes and his partner, Adil Rashid, had not yet crossed for their second run.
Hence, according to the latter part of the rule, it doesn't appear that the second run was completed. But England were awarded six runs which eventually proved vital looking at the context of the game.
Stokes, on his part, did apologise for the unintended deflection off his bat. "I said to Kane I'll be apologising for that for the rest of my life," the all-rounder said.
However, Williamson was left disappointed as he failed to take his team across the line and said: "It was a shame that the ball hit Stokes' bat, but I just hope it doesn't happen in moments like that."
"Unfortunately that sort of thing happens from time to time. It's a part of the game that we play. I don't wish to nitpick, just hope it never happens in such moments ever again," he added.
(With inputs from IANS)